Structure for conducting fluid mediums



Aug. 25, 1953 T. B. HUGHES 2,649,795

' STRUCTURE FOR CONDUCTING FLUID MEDIUMS Filed June 28. 1949 FlG..l..

INVENTOR THOMAS B. HUGHES ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 25, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STRUCTURE FOR ME CONDUCTING FLUID DIUMS 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to a structure for conducting a fiuid medium, and more $196- cifically to a structure in the form of a castin in which a cavity is formed for passage therethrough of a medium such as steam or Water, the predominant object of the invention being to provide such a structure which is characterized by being of such improved construction and arrangement that While the manufacture thereof is simplified and is rendered less expensive than heretofore, the structure is capable of performing its intended function in an improved and highly efiicient manner.

One type of structure which may be made in accordance with this invention to good advantage is thesole plate of an electrically heated pressing iron that is provided with orifices at the bottom face thereof from which steam is discharged. These sole plates are provided with passageways for steam which are located within the structures of the sole plates and steam is conducted to said passageways by suitable conductors, said steam being discharged from the orifices at the bottom faces of the sole plates which communicate with the passageways within the sole plates. Heretofore, in the manufacture of sole plates of the type referred to above, the steam passageways therein were drilled after the sole plates Were molded, or said passageways were formed in the sole plate castings by cores, both of such methods of producing the passageways in the sole plates being time-consuming and relatively expensive.

The predominant feature of the present i vention has to do with the formation of steam or water passageways in castings, sole plates for electrically heated pressing irons, for instance,

a sole plate of an electrically heated pressing iron made in accordance with this invention, the remainder of the pressing iron being illustrated by broken lines.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating a different form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating still another form of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein are shown for p poses of illustration, merely, several embodiments of the invention, A designates generally in Fig. 1 an electrically heated pressing iron. The electrically heated pressing iron A includes a sole plate I which is constructed and arranged in accordance with this invention, said sole plate being provided Within the structure thereof with a pair of insert plates 2 which preferably are shaped as shown in Fig. 3 where one of said insert plates is illustrated. The insert plates 2 are disposed within a cavity 3 formed within the structure of the sole plate I, said cavity 3 being of slightly greater height, Width, and length than said insert plates 2 so as to provide narrow spaces between the various faces of the insert plates and adjacent wall portions of the cavity 3. At the heel of the sole plate I a screwthreaded opening 4 is formed therein which communicates at its inner end with the cavity 3, a fitting 5 being screwed into said screwthreaded opening and this fitting having connected thereto a flexible conductor (not shown). At the forward toe portion of the sole plate I a plurality of orifices 6 are formed through a portion of the sole plate, these orifices being in communication with the cavity 3 at their inner ends and being Open at the bottom face of the sole plate.

The cavity 3 has the general shape of the nsert plate 2 illustrated in Fig. 3, and in the use of the electrically heated pressing iron A steam is conducted to said cavity from a source of steam for passage therethrough and discharge at the bottom face of the sole plate I from the orifices 6. The steam passes around the pair of insert plates 2 as it moves through the cavity 3 and also said steam passes between said insert plates because the contact between the pair of insert plates is not fluid-tight.

The sole plate I is produced by molding said sole plate about the insert plates 2, said insert plates being supported in place in the mold in which the sole plate is formed in any One of a number of ways with which molders are entirely familiar. The sole plate is formed of one material, such, for instance,'as aluminum, while the insert plates 2 are formed of material of different character, such, for instance, as copper,

stainless steel, etc., and because molten aluminum will not adhere to, but will shrink away from the material of the insert plates the cavity 3 is formed which serves as a passageway for steam or water moving through the structure in which said cavity is formed.

The form of the invention illustrated by Fig. 4 difiers from the form of the invention illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 only because of the fact that but one insert plate 2a is present in the sole plate Ia of Fig. 4, instead of a pair of such insert plates as in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 4a cavity 3a is present in the sole plate la which entirely surrounds the insert plate 2a, said cavity being produced in the manner hereinbefore explained in connection with the structure of Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 5 a form of the invention is illustrated which closely resembles the form of the invention illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2. In other words, the structure lb of Fig. 5 includes a pair of insert plates 21), as in Figs. 1 and 2, but in Fig. 5 the pair of insert plates have interposed therebetween a layer of suitable filtering material, rock wool, for instance. Because the insert plates 2b of Fig. 5 are spaced apart to a substantial degree most of the steam passing through the passageway provided by the cavity Bb will move between said insert plates 2?), and because of the presence of the filtering material, through which said steam must force its way, any water carried along with the steam will be quickly converted into steam.

It is to be noted that the insert plates which are located within the body portions of the sole plates must be formed of material which is of higher melting point than is the material of which the body portions are formed, so that there will be no tendency for the insert plates to melt when the body portions are molded about said insert plates. Also, it is pointed out that the walls of a cavity of a structure made in accordance with the present invention are not smooth but, to the contrary, said cavity walls are quite rough, this being the result of shrinkage of said cavity walls away from the insert plate or plates. Also, the spaces within the cavity between the cavity walls and the insert plate or plates are not well defined spaces of uniform width but instead these spaces are quite irregular. In other words, at some points the cavity walls may be in contact with points on the surfaces of the insert plate or plates, while at adjacent points the cavity walls may be shrunken away considerably from the insert plate or plates. Because of this situation irregular shaped openings are present between the cavity walls and the insert plate or plates which produce what might be described as leakage contact between the cavity walls and the insert plate or plates which permits steam to pass between said cavity walls and said insert plate or plates.

I claim:

1. A structure adapted for passage therethrough of a medium, comprising a body portion in the form of a one piece integral casting, an insert plate disposed within said body portion, and a cavity formed within said body portion in which said insert plate is disposed with a space being present between the various faces of said insert plate and adjacent wall portion of said cavity to provide a passageway for the medium moving through said structure, said cavity being completely enclosed by solid integral portions of said one-piece integral casting that comprises said body portion and said structure having an inlet adjacent to one end and an outlet adjacent to the other end.

2. A structure adapted for passage therethrough of a medium, comprising a body portion in the form of a one piece integral casting, a pair of insert plates disposed within said body portion, and a cavity formed within said body portion in which said insert plates are disposed with a space being present between the various faces of said insert plates and adjacent wall portions of said cavity to provide a passageway for the medium moving through said structure, said cavity being completely enclosed by solid integral portions of said one-piece integral casting that comprises said body portion and said structure having an inlet adjacent to one end and an outlet adjacent to the other end.

THOMAS B. HUGHES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,313,124 Seldin Aug. 12, 1919 1,768,145 Raditsch June 24, 1930- 2,078,061 Cooper Apr. 20, 1937 2,336,807 Schwartz Dec. 14, 1943 

